Campaign for 100% Public Healthcare

On March 24th the NHS will be removing Obstetrics and Paediatric Services (Mat/Child) from Welland Hospital and transferring them to the new hospital in St. Catharines.

The removal of these services will have a dismantling effect on Welland Hospital and there is a concern Orthopedics may also be transferred in the near future as NHS supervisor Kevin Smith has proposed consolidating Orthopedics and the Hospital Improvement Plan recommends moving Orthopedics out of Welland Hospital.
Our local physicians are concerned the removal of these services will result in the loss of a vital 24/7 Emergency Department at Welland Hospital.

Welland distributed and received nearly 20,000 signed petitions requesting these services remain at Welland Hospital.

Welland Mayor Barry Sharpe has requested a delay of the transfer of Mat/Child until the new NHS board is appointed and has an opportunity to review this decision.
Kevin Smith has said No and the NHS plans to remove Mat/Child on March 24th.

We the people, sponsored by the Welland Health Care Committee, are planning a Bus Trip to Queen’s Park on Thursday March21st to be leaving from Market Square in Welland at 8a.m. and returning at 3p.m. to attend the Question and Answer Period.

Our goal will be to object to the removal of services from Welland Hospital and questions will be asked of Health Care Minister Deb Matthews.

The Ontario Liberal government is cutting billions of dollars from health care and it is impacting all our hospitals and their ability to provide the services that we need. Every community in Ontario is being affected by these cuts. Here in Niagara, the NHS must find at the very least $ 13 million in savings for 2013.

We would appreciate it if you could help us in promoting the Save Our Services Rally March 4 by distributing the posters via email and by encouraging people to attend the rally.
Now is the time to push back at the Liberal agenda of cutting $ 3 billion from the hospital budgets and stop the cuts to our services in Niagara.

Please participate by joining us across from the Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Church (corner of Bain and Broadview Ave) at 11:45 am to partake in a human formation – we will be forming a giant red umbrella for Medicare

PROVINCIAL BUDGET UPDATE Important message from the Health Coalition about the provincila budget dealing yet anohter blow to Public health care.

Schedule 28 of the Budget Bill Creates a Privatization “Czar”– including health privatization

In addition to the service cuts that will be caused by the underfunding in the Ontario budget, there is another major section of the Budget Bill (Bill 55) that we are urgently working to have removed. Schedule 28 of the Budget Bill sets up new powers for cabinet and a new Minister (an uber Minister of privatization — termed the “Privatization Czar”) to override existing legislation and regulations. This Privatization “Czar” and cabinet are given new powers to order the privatization of any or all government services, including health care, water, hydro etc.

“Government services” are not defined in the legislation. The Bill enables cabinet – without going to the legislature – and the government by regulation to order the privatization of government services to for-profit and non-profit companies. Hospitals are specifically mentioned in Section 10. Lawyers are warning that this Schedule could allow privatization of our public health insurance system (Medicare) in Ontario. It certainly enables the government — without checks and balances — to privatize all kinds of functions under the Ministry of Health and hospitals.

Despite some media reports that say that Schedule 28 is limited to the privatization of Service Ontario (and that is bad enough), this is not true. In fact, Schedule 28 clearly applies to hospitals, the Ministry of Health and all government services; and it overrides existing legislation. Furthermore, despite reported amendment, the opposition parties have never seen any amendment. Moreover, amendment is insufficient. This whole Schedule is contrary to the public interest and should be withdrawn. If the McGuinty government wants to introduce a Privatization Ministry and a Privatization Bill, it can re-write it and bring it back in the next session of the legislature for proper debate.

We Are Calling for Schedule 28 to be Withdrawn

The Budget Bill is an omnibus bill that amends all kinds of legislation. This Schedule 28 of the Budget Bill has nothing to do with the budget. It has no business in a budget bill. It has far-reaching implications for social policy and the public interest. It is biased towards privatization, including for-profit privatization, and contains almost no requirements for transparency, democracy and no principles to guide government decisions. It allows private companies to collect and disclose personal information in a section of the Bill that is poorly considered, and it is not clear how this section interacts with existing legislation protecting patients’ privacy.

The entire Schedule 28 is dangerous,far-reaching and inappropriate to be included in a Budget Bill (which is being fast-tracked to pass it through the legislature before the end of June). At the very least it should be subject to robust political debate. Schedule 28 should be withdrawn from the Budget Bill.

You Can Help Stop Schedule 28: A Call to Action

Everyone who is concerned about the privatization of our health care needs to take action as soon as possible. Amendments to the Budget Bill are due by the end of the day on Tuesday, so we do not have much time.

Please do the following:

For those in and around the Toronto area, please come to the Legislature (Queen’s Park) at 10 am this Monday (June 11th) to help fill the Legislature Gallery to make a strong statement opposing Schedule 28 of the Budget Bill. We will meet you in front of Queen’s Park at 10 am. You enter the building through the doorway to the left of the main stairs. Security will tell you where to go if you need help. You need to tell them you want to go to the Gallery to see Question Period. Please email or phone us to let us know that you are coming: ohc@sympatico.ca or 416-441-2502. Please get as many people to come out as possible.

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